Overview

We welcome inquiries and applications from practitioners and professionals in criminal justice (e.g. policing, courts, probation, prison work, alternative sanctions, community sanctions, service providers in the sphere of drugs and addiction, and so on) or related fields of work and practice (e.g. local authority and third sector service providers in the sphere of crime prevention, security, community building and offender rehabilitation; private providers in the above or related spheres; non-governmental action in a variety of spheres such as environmental action, human rights policy and activism, and so on). This list is not exhaustive.

The DCrim aims to:

• Promote an understanding of research evidence and methodologies relevant to professional practitioners in criminal justice and cognate fields.
• Develop a critical awareness of the broader influences and contexts in which professional practice develops and evolves.
• Enable participants to undertake a research study of relevance and importance to their professional field.

Enrolment: The D Crim has one entry point a year – in October.

Higher Education Qualification (FHEQ) level of final award: Level 8.

Duration: 6 years part time (with the possibility of extending this to a maximum of 8 years).

Course content

The programme prepares students to undertake a doctoral thesis after studying 180 credits worth of modules relevant to their personal, research and professional needs.

In the first two years you would be required to attend taught modules. There are five modules in total. They are taught in blocks of 2-3 days’ duration each and spaced across the semesters of the academic year. This gives the flexibility for students to study while in professional practice/work. Around this formal teaching, there are regular opportunities for face to face and online/e-mail support. In years 3 - 4 (and beyond where necessary) you would work under the guidance and support of a nominated supervisor to produce a 60,000 word thesis.

The first year: discipline specific modules

In the first year, students will take modules from the MA Criminology and Criminal Justice and/or the Masters in Research programmes (taught and assessed at Level 8), depending on their research training needs, experience and specialisms. The decision about which are the most appropriate modules for each student will be made at interview prior to admission.

These modules (which are subject to reasonable adjustment) include a combination of modules up to 90 credits:
• Contemporary Criminology (CRI-40027) 30 credits (core)

And at least one of the following
• Contemporary Challenges in Criminal Justice (CRI-40029) 30 credits
• Advanced Topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice. (CRI-40030) 30 credits
And/or a choice of modules from the Masters in Research Social Science Research Methods list equal to 30 credits.

The second year: research training and development.

The second year is devoted to supporting students to design and pilot their thesis projects, to familiarise themselves with project planning, preparation and management, including research ethics and application of methodologies. Students study cross-professionally with peers from the Doctorate in Education and Doctorate in Social Science Research.

Students who have already successfully completed a Masters level qualification in a relevant discipline and who have been admitted via the existing Advanced Standing route will begin at this point.

• Edu-50003 Methods and Application: Designing and Carrying out a Pilot Study (30 credits)

This module addresses issues about research design and analysis with an emphasis on qualitative and ethnographic perspectives. Students consider the ethical issues entailed in designing and conducting various forms of enquiry, such as narratives, life histories, auto/biographies, case studies and other qualitative or ethnographic methods. The module also explores the political and social contexts related to the research process and analysis, and aspects of the research process such as the researcher's own reflectiveness and issues of informed consent.

The assessment (6,000 words) requires students to critically discuss the research methods and strategy that they plan to adopt in their thesis, to carry out a pilot study testing aspects of this design, and to report on and evaluate the conduct and findings of that pilot study.

Students are encouraged to design the pilot study to be carried out in the same organisation where they will do the main study. The pilot helps students to identify research questions for the main study, to improve on areas of the research design, or even re-formulate the focus for the doctorate research, and to practice presenting the research plan for ethical approval.

• EDU-40107 Preparing a Thesis Proposal (60 credits)

This module is currently taught in two parts:
(i) Preparing for thesis progression.

The first part of the module helps prepare students for their overall thesis by drawing together issues about the entire research process: theory, methodology, research design and analysis. It also helps to prepare students for the distinct elements of assessment for this module, which are:
a. Submission of a written thesis proposal (10,000-words)
b. Presentation of this proposal (accompanied by a 2,000-word summary) in front of a panel of assessors

(ii) Thesis Progression Panel

In the second part of the module, after the written thesis proposal has been read by two assessors, students give an oral presentation of their plans for the thesis as the final summative assessment on the taught programme. The panel then asks the candidate questions about their thesis plan and makes a decision on whether or not the candidate has the required skills and knowledge to proceed to the thesis stage (based on both the written proposal and its oral presentation, including the candidate’s ability to answer questions). This assessment, and recommendation, is the final assessment on the taught part of the programme.

Entry requirements

A candidate for the D Crim should:

1. Usually hold a Masters Degree from this University or of another deemed equivalent; and,
2. Hold that qualification normally in the general field of criminology, socio-legal or law studies, policy and/or management and/or social sciences or equivalent in professional experience and a professionally accredited programme; and,
3. Have access to email and the internet for the e-supported parts of the programme.
4. Students who hold a Masters Degree and have advanced professional experience may apply to enter the programme with Advanced Standing (i.e. permitting a quicker process towards dissertation stage). This is an exceptional concession and will be decided by panel.  Please inquire with us if you are considering this pathway.

*Applicants without a Masters degree will be considered on a case-by-case basis, where they can provide evidence of relevant professional experience or other experiential prior learning.

There is no deadline for applications but you are strongly encouraged to apply before 1st August to secure your place and to receive the preliminary course information.

Contact details

Contact: Programme Director, Dr. John Howlett

Telephone: +44 (0) 1782 734151

Email: j.howlett@keele.ac.uk

Additional costs

• Additional costs for textbooks, inter-library loans, photocopying, printing, and potential overdue library fines.

No other additional costs for this postgraduate programme are anticipated.

Award pathway option

Upon successful completion of the taught part of the DCrim programme and a 15-20,000 word mini-thesis, students may be awarded an MRes (Criminology and Criminal Justice).

Staff expertise

Dr Santiago Abel Amietta

Lecturer in Criminology, s.amietta@keele.ac.uk 

Research interests: legal and criminological practice; lay participation in criminal justice; fear of crime; law in everyday life; post-colonial criminology with a continued regional focus on Latin America.

Prof Mary Corcoran

Professor of Criminology, m.corcoran@keele.ac.uk 

Research Interests: imprisonment; political crime and offending; women offenders; the voluntary sector in criminal justice; criminal justice policy and practice; marketisation in criminal justice; alternatives to custody.

Dr Anne-Marie Day

Lecturer in Criminology, a.m.day@keele.ac.uk

Research interests: youth justice, prisons and imprisonment, criminal justice policy and practice; resettlement.

Dr Evi Girling

Senior Lecturer in Criminology, e.j.girling@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests: community and crime; penal sensibilities focusing on issues of globalization and identity; the Italian anti-death penalty movement, restorative justice, globalization and punishment.

Dr Clare Griffiths

Lecturer in Criminology, c.e.griffiths@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests: immigration and crime, urban criminology and sociology, vulnerability.

Dr Tony Kearon (semester 1 only)

Senior Lecturer in Criminology, a.t.kearon@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests: Policing, Community safety, multi-agency partnership working, domestic violence, prevention and early intervention.

Dr Leah Koumentaki

Teaching Fellow in Criminology, e.koumentaki@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests: Restorative justice, local reconciliation processes and customary justice – alternatives to northern European approaches and assumptions; Critical criminology, grounded theory and participatory ethnography.

Dr Helen Wells

Senior Lecturer in Criminology, h.m.wells@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests: Controversies surrounding the use of speed cameras to enforce speed limits; ‘the crimes of the law-abiding’ – the regulation of a variety of ‘minor’ offences; surveillance, technology and crime control.

Dr Liam Wrigley

Lecturer in Criminology, l.m.wrigley@keele.ac.uk

Research Interests:. Social exclusion, space/place, care, youth studies and youth justice, ethics, co-productive ethnography and methodologies, narrative research, applied social sciences, social capital and qualitative social network analysis.

Staff based in other departments (e.g. Sociology, Politics, or Law) may also contribute to teaching in the programme.